silence isnt always golden
by SalSassy
Summary: AU Callex request! "Callie is the kind of woman you spend the rest of your life making happy because she just wants the simple things."!ABUSE/ASSAULT TRIGGER WARNINGS!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Complete AU started around S1/S2 *Character stories and background have been altered (Callie and Bailey have been close friends for years***

"Numb. All I feel right now is numb and I can't be numb right now." The older woman pursed her lips and stretched her arms out. Tears made their way down her face as she tried to console her best friend. "Callie, you are allowed to feel. You can feel whatever you want." Callie's pager went off and she sat up to wipe her face. "I have a feeling that this will be a long day. Thank you Addie." Addison gave a sympathetic smile, "Never thank me. I'll catch you later on?" Callie shook her head yes and headed to the pit. Upon reaching the pit, she immediately saw Izzie vomiting, which was something she'd stop doing only a couple of hours earlier. For a moment, she felt bad for her, then immediately felt anger towards her. She turned to the nurse, who handed her a file, before going into the first exam room.

She fought hard to hold back the tears when she saw the battered child crying on the gurney. She looked to her intern for the day, Cristina Yang, and asked what happened. Yang replied, "From what I overheard the cops saying, her mother acted like she was a pint-size boxing bag before a pin cushion. Look, I don't do kids and she won't let me examine her. Even I can see that she has some broken ribs and probably an ankle. I don't know what to do because she could have internal injuries and won't stop fidgeting." Callie took pity on Cristina, "Number 1, she's a child. 2, she's scared. And 3, she's in pain."

Callie studied the pretty hazel-eyed little girl for a moment. She watched as the little girl stared at her before reaching behind her ear and rubbing furiously. She made motions with her hands and Callie immediately recognized them. "See what I mean?" Yang exclaimed suddenly—making Callie jump. She turned completely to face Yang, "She's deaf. She's speaking in sign language." "And you know this how?" Callie rolled her eyes, "I have a deaf uncle. He taught me how to sign when I was a kid." Yang scoffed, "Oh, how sweet"

"Do you want in on this surgery or not?" Callie snapped. Yang looked bewildered and excited at the same time. "Surgery? So, I was right? Yes!" She stopped her victory dance upon looked at Callie's unimpressed face. "Oh come on Torres. When have you ever seen an intern guess injuries without doing any tests?" With a roll of the eyes, Callie said, "Gold star for Yang." Callie turned back to the little girl and started signing. Although she was a toddler, she knew how to sign better than Callie predicted. She tried to make explaining tests and scans as simply as she could. The little girl seemed to trust Callie and allowed the doctor to pick her up. Her lip started to tremble as Callie touched her tiny body as gently as she could. Although she was hurting, she never let her grip on Callie waiver. Yang listened to her breathing as Callie held her; it was then that she noticed her inability to focus her vision. Callie looked to the side and saw dried blood in her ear. She looked to Yang and tried to keep herself from startling her patient, "Page neuro and Peds right now." Yang rushed off to do as she was told while Callie felt the small girl tense and shake in her arms. She looked to see hazel eyes frozen in fear. Callie turned around and saw a young woman standing there. The little girl vomited all over Callie, right before she started seizing. Everyone in the room rushed to stabilize the girl as Shepard and Robbins took over. Callie looked over her shoulder only to notice that the woman had vanished.

Robbins demanded her attention, "Dr. Torres, what do we have?" Callie snapped out of her trance and rattled off "Female between the age of 1 and 3. Possible incomplete tibia fracture to the left leg, broken right ankle. At least 3 broken ribs and maybe another two that are fractured, possible internal injuries, and dried blood in the ear canal that could be some sort of delayed brain injury. She only seized once and that was right before you came in." Shepard tried in vain to not get angry over the little girl's injuries. Callie added, "Yang said that breath sounds were decreased on both sides. Oh, and she's deaf. I know because I speak sign language. I don't know if she's completely deaf or not…but at least partially."

Robbins nodded, "We need to get her into the OR now. Let's go people." They all rushed towards the elevators, including Yang, and prepped for trauma surgery on a toddler. Addison would've scrubbed in, if she hadn't been already operating on a newborn in the next OR. Callie glanced up once to see Bailey looking down on her with compassionate eyes. She also saw her ex-husband and got angry all over again. "Listen up everybody. I know that we don't often have trauma surgeries on children, but Robbins does. Robbins will take point on internal injuries while I work on her bone breaks. Yang will be active in this surgery" she paused to look at Yang, "now is your time to shine Cardio God in training."

They were 2 hours into the surgery when her leg suddenly jerked. They all stopped moving right as the intercom boomed to life, "She has a partial cochlear implant. It's given her headaches before but never a seizure. It's the damn implant!" Callie stopped what she was doing on the ribs and allowed Shepard to assess her. She couldn't stop herself from asking, "How do you know that?" Callie heard a broken voice and looked up to see Alex Karev nearly in tears. It was a long moment before he responded, "She's my niece." All heads in the observation deck turned on a swivel to stare at him but he was stuck staring into Callie's compassionate eyes. Once the surgery was finished, Alex walked with them all the way to the PICU. He spoke to Callie softly as if he was trying not to wake his niece, "Where's my sister?" Callie looked at him, "About 5'5, slim, dirty blonde?" he nodded yes. "She was here and then she vanished." She watched his jaw tightened and decided to change the subject. "What's her name?"

Alex looked down at the biggest part of his heart, "Avril. Avril Calleigh Karev. I named her and delivered her almost 2 years ago." Callie simply smiled at him and Robbins cut in saying "that's a beautiful name for a beautiful girl" as she hooked up the various machines. When she was finished, she turned to Alex. "We have to wait until the swelling in her brain decreases before anyone can attempt to take the implant out. She'll stay here. Is there anyone you want us to call?" she asked gently. He balled his fists up, "Hell no. it's just me. Nicole did this to my—God, she's like my kid. I've done everything since the day I found out about her. The dad has never been there and we don't have any family that is worth calling." Robbins and Shepard nodded before leaving the room. Callie remained and stood quietly as Alex rubbed a gentle hand on Avril's cheek. "Why are you still here Torres?" "Post-op for my patient." She was pleased with his small smirk. He turned to her with red eyes, "Why are you really still here?" She dropped the façade, "Because I'm human and you need a friend."

Alex couldn't hold it in anymore and let his knees buckle. Callie was right by his side offering moral support. He suddenly started laughing and said, "Avril, is my kid. I'm an instant dad now. I went from single to single dad in a day. Guess my life is sucky." Callie swatted his arm and chuckled, "It's not sucky because you love her. You adore her and I can tell. Now sucky is my life." He gave her a look that egged her on to keep talking. "My life sucks. Last year, I was so ecstatic about giving birth to my little girl even though my relationship with George was rocky. She made us better or at least I thought she did. I wanted to name her after the daughter his mom lost. Teagan. The day that she died was the worst day of my life. No one knew what it felt like to lose your baby at 7 ½ months and have to push her out of you…already dead."

Callie took a moment to try and hide the tears, but Alex pulled her into a comforting hug, "I didn't think we'd survive that and we practically didn't, until George's dad. I only knew him for a year, but I loved that man to death. George was in a bad place—I don't know if I was convenient or if he really wanted me, but I was his comfort. I fooled myself into believing that we were good and I agreed to marry him. That crashed and burned a month ago when I found out that he got me pregnant _after _he cheated on me with Izzie and got her pregnant." The look he gave her would've been comical if she were in a different state of mind.

He started, "So, you—" "Are pregnant by a man who shattered my heart. A man who I hate right now. A man who I let make a fool of me personally and professionally. A man who cost me one child, only to give me another one when I wasn't finished grieving her. The soon-to-be ex-wife and the mistress are pregnant by an asshole and that asshole is George O'Malley. So I win, my life sucks more." He waited for a few minutes before speaking, "Your life is shit right now" making her laugh "Tell me about it." So, you going to keep it?" Callie looked at her hands, "Yeah I am. I wanted my daughter so badly, I can't just abort. I can raise my child with or without George."

Alex rubbed a hand over his neck as he took a glance at Avril lying in the bed. "So…you said that he cost you one child." Callie sniffled and shook her head, "I don't want to tell you because you'll just attack him like Mark did." "Sloan? When and how?" "The day that you found me in the stairwell, when I lost Teagan. We got into an argument over him not wanting to move out of Meredith's house after she was born. He wanted me to move in, which was stupid because I have a home, a very big home. Anyways, he gripped my arm tight" "The bruise you said happened when you fell?" Alex asked skeptically—Callie wouldn't meet his eyes, so he gently turned her face towards him—"George…he was angry that I said no. He grabbed my arm after I begged him to let me go. When he finally did, I fell down the last 6 steps. I never told you guys, but I blacked out. I was more worried about my baby than me." Alex let her face go, "You're right. I want to attack him." "Please don't" she looked over at Avril "you have somebody waiting for you now. So, can I ask you a question?" Alex braced himself for a question about his sister and Avril but was surprised when she asked, "Where are you guys going to live when she gets released?"


	2. Chapter 2

**ALEX AND AVRIL GET A HOUSE**

Alex let out a deep laugh, "I have no clue. I'm still at Meredith's place." Callie bit her lip, something Alex found absolutely adorable and sexy at the same time. "I have a proposal for you" Callie said. Alex smirked his cocky look, "Usually, the man does those unless you want to get on your knees for me." Callie punched him in the arm as they both laughed. "Shut up Alex. What I meant to say was that I still have my old 2-bedroom apartment. It was the first place I had when I moved here 5 years ago. I never sold it, just rented it out. When Miranda and I decided to live together, I bought a house. Now, Addison lives with us…anyways I'm offering you my old apartment for you and Avril." He was quiet for a moment, "You, Bailey, and Montgomery live together?" he asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Callie rolled her eyes, "That was your only take away?" she asked with a laugh. She noticed by the way that he wasn't looking at her and popping his knuckles, that he was nervous. "Alex, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable" _Callie mentally head slapped herself. _He reached out to reassure her, "You didn't Cal. I promise. I'm just not used to people giving me things without something in return. What I'm trying to say is I can't accept a free apartment from you and I'm sure I can't afford it either." Callie shook her head, "I don't want you to pay for it Al. You are now responsible for a little human. She's your focus now and she needs stability. Casa de Grey isn't the place to raise a child. It's a frat house. Besides, you'll need space and she needs to be around people who can speak sign language. It's not a charity or pity thing. It's more of a 'single parent is a hard ass thing to alone with no help'. I'm going to be a single parent in a little while, so I'm helping you now." Alex stared her in the eyes to ensure that she was serious; she responded by taking two keys off her keychain. "So, you just carry these keys around?" Callie shrugged in response. Before he could take the keys, his pager went off. "Dammit, it's my patient." Callie put the keys in his pocket and said, "Go check on your patient; I don't have anywhere to be right now, so I'll stay with her." "Callie are you-" "Yes I'm sure", she said with a looked that warned him not to argue with her. He stood up and her voice stopped him, "While you're gone, make a list of things you two need and I'll get it before I leave the hospital. Barring any emergencies, I'll be off shift in 4 hours. I would like to at least get the apartment ready for the two of you."

"How are you going-" he stopped talking when he saw the look of warning on her face, "I'll write it all down." Callie gave him a smile so bright that it almost stopped his heart, "Great. Go check on your patient. I'll page you if anything changes." Callie walked over to the bed and softly ran her thumb over the surprisingly hollow cheek, "Who does this kind of thing to such a precious little girl?" Callie took out her phone and called her father. "Hello bambina." Callie smiled, "Hi papi. Does your company make cochlear implants designed for children?" Carlos Torres was quiet for a moment, "Is there something you want to tell me Calliope?" _If only you knew _"There's a patient, tiny little girl actually, that has a partial one in, but it looks botched. There's swelling and blood seeping out." "That sounds barbaric. How old is the child?" "She's 2." "We do make a model that may work for your patient. How soon do you need it?" "Immediately. Shepard and Robbins will operate as soon as the swelling goes down. I don't know if she wanted it or was forced, but the scarring doesn't suggest that it was done by a certified surgeon." "I'll send it priority tonight." "Thank you papi." "Not a problem bambina." "Papi, are you—how are you doing with the separation from Mami?"

Her father let out a shaky breath, "It's really hard. I love her with all my heart, but I can't choose her over my children. She's forced my hand on so many occasions; you telling us that you're bisexual, Marisol getting married at 17, Pote choosing to stay in Havana, Arturo telling us that he's homosexual, and Nazanin dying. I just can't take my wife forcing me to choose between her and my children. I'm a devout Catholic, so I won't be divorcing her. I just need to have separation from her." Callie felt her heart break for her father. She thought for sure that her parents would always be a united front and was completely caught off guard when they weren't. After her sister was killed by a drunk driver the day of her medical school graduation, Callie would've never survived the grief without her father. They felt responsible because they were late meeting her for dinner. That guilt and grief brought them closer together than they already were. Callie has always suffered the most with Nazanin's death because she lost her twin sister." Callie looked down at the large portrait tattoo of her sister on her forearm and willed the tears away. _She'll never meet my child. _"Calliope are you still there?" She cleared her throat, "Yes daddy. I'm here. I'll let you get back to your day." "Wait, if it a neurological surgery that this little girl needs, why is she your patient?" "She had broken bones too." "From what?" "I don't know papi, but it reminds me of 'the incident'." They both felt a chill run down their spines.

Callie hung the phone up when Avril started to squirm. It took about two seconds for Avril to completely become hysterical. Callie rushed over to prevent her from yanking out the IV. She started to wail and Callie placed her hand on Avril's stomach to calm her. She rubbed her knuckles back and forth slowly. Callie was afraid to lift her, due to possibly causing her more harm than good. Although she couldn't hear, Callie placed her head softly on Avril's stomach. She looked at the little girl, while continuing to rub her knuckles, and hummed a lullaby. Avril felt the vibrations of Callie's humming and started to calm down. Soon, she was staring right back at Callie with a calm look on her face. Callie continued to sing until she was sure that Avril was calm. She removed her hand and shifted it towards Avril's ear.

Avril recoiled immediately and her eyes filled with tears. Callie grabbed Avril's hand, placing on her own ear and rubbed in circles. Callie moved her hand and let Avril keep rubbing her ear. Avril seemed fascinated with Callie's dark hair and even tucked some behind her ear. Callie reached for Avril's ear again; this time she let her. Callie rubbed circles around the surgical scar until she felt a very warm spot just below the incision. Callie calmly paged Robbins and Shepard, while rubbing her knuckles against the little girl's stomach once more. When she turned around, there was a smiling Addison standing there with a camcorder. She rolled her eyes, "Addie, what are you doing?" Addison gave a bright smile, "Someone bought me a camcorder for Christmas, expecting me to be some guru. I figured that I'd capture said person off guard. You're good with her by the way. Clearly, you're practicing for the bun."

Callie momentarily forgot about being pregnant as she glanced down at her stomach with a small grin, "Maybe." Addison walked over, oblivious to Avril's sudden tension and asked, "So, are the rumors true? You and Karev had a love child?" Callie laughed so hard that she almost snorted, "Of course, we have all kinds of hot monkey sex. No, Addie she's his niece. She came in pretty banged up and now he's an instant dad. I actually need you to do me a favor." Addison felt somber for Karev but perked up when Callie asked for a favor, "What's up pussycat?" "I asked Karev to make me a list of things that they need. I'm going to give him my old apartment, so that he doesn't have to raise a child in the Grey frat house. He'll probably be here all night, but even if he isn't, I just want one thing to work in their favor when she gets released." Addison kissed Callie's cheek, "You, pussycat are one in a million. They're lucky to have you." Callie immediately shook her head, "Not like that. Alex just needs a friend right now, and I need a distraction, other than work, from my pitiful life." Addison gave her an all-knowing smile, "Whatever you say pussycat."

Callie felt tiny fingers dig into her arm and immediately turned around to look at Avril. It was then that she noticed the scared look on her face; she turned back around and noticed that the room had far too many people. Addison excused herself from the room. Robbins spoke, "You paged us?" Callie cleared her throat, "Before I show you, please take slow steps…she's easily shaken. I felt a patch of hot inflamed skin directly under this incision behind her ear. I think it might be an infection; the surgery looks like a hack job. I called my father and asked him if they made cochlear implants for children. He's sending one priority mail. I don't know what your surgical plan is, but at least it could be done right this time." Shepard nodded, "Yeah I noticed that as well when I looked over her scans. I guess that depending on what we see when I open up her ear, we might have to replace the implant. I'll confer with Sloan since he's done more ENT surgeries than I have." Robbins tried to move towards Avril, but she started to cry loudly. She fought more and more against Callie until she cradled against a warm chest. Callie and Robbins shared a look, causing Robbins to take a step back. Callie said, "Show her what you want to do on me first." Avril watched as Robbins listened to Callie's heartbeat. Sensing that it wouldn't hurt, she pulled away from Callie slightly to let Arizona listen to her heart. Every vital and test that Robbins wanted to run on Avril was performed on Callie first. It took nearly 2 hours, but both Shepard and Robbins got the necessary tests done. "We're going to schedule surgery for first thing in the morning" Robbins said. Callie got Avril settled again just as the dinner cart came around. The food looked horrible, but the little girl needed to eat something. Callie tried, and failed, to hide her grimace as she tasted the food before giving it to Avril. For the first time all day, Callie felt her heart burst with happiness as Avril laughed. It wasn't extremely loud, but audible enough for Callie to notice.


	3. Chapter 3

**FOUR DOCTORS…ONE HOUSE**

Avril managed to eat all of her food, simply because Callie promised her pudding. She started fighting her sleep, so Callie rubbed her stomach in a soothing motion. She ran of couple of fingers into the slightly tangled hair as hazel eyes started to drift close. Once she was asleep, Callie looked up to notice Robbins in the room. "I didn't mean to startle you, but I got caught in a trance. You are really good with her. I know that you're the Ortho badass, but have you ever considered PEDS?" Arizona asked. Callie chuckled to herself, "I guess I just know what it feels like to be broken down and hurt." Arizona picked up on something more, "I would say that you're talking about your soon-to-be ex-husband, but I think it's more than that." Callie was running out of fight, "What do you want me to say Arizona?"

Arizona shrugged, "Just admit that you need an unbiased opinion and I'll give it to you." "What? Look you don't know me." "Exactly, I'm not gaining anything out of this situation and I'm cheaper than therapy." Callie chuckled and received a text from Addison _[I went to grab the list and keys from Karev. He'll be here all night, but you better not be. You have to take care of the both of you pussycat. I'll get the apartment ready and I'll even grab Miranda]_

Callie looked to Arizona, "How much time you got? Therapy is usually an hour-long session." Arizona smiled, showing off her dimples, "As much time as you need, I'm an attending. Let's start simple, when did you learn sign language?" Callie smiled at the memory, "When I was six, right after I learned English. I was in Havana with my uncle." Callie didn't know why she was so comfortable with Arizona, but before she knew it, her entire life story spilled out—the good, bad, ugly, and beautiful. Arizona held Callie's hand the entire time as they both let tears fall. At the end, Arizona hugged Callie tightly, catching her off-guard, and said, "You are incredibly strong. Don't look at your divorce as a failure, it's a win. Your kid is going to be awesome and you're going to be a super awesome mom." Callie pulled away chuckling, "Super and awesome? You really are as perky as people say." Arizona started to respond but stopped when she saw a pair of Nikes standing in the doorway of Avril's room. Her eyes slowly trailed up the fit and curvy form until she saw a pair of chocolate brown eyes smirking at her. "CC, let's go. Miranda told me that I'd probably find you here. What you're doing is noble, but you have a tiny person inside of you and you need to take better care of yourself. So, get up and let me take you home."

Callie finally looked up, "But she's just a child" "In the PEDS ward, and I'm on-call. This is my wheelhouse, I got it Calliope." Arizona said with a warm smile. Callie motioned towards the door, "Arizona is my younger sister Isadora Torres. Isa this is Arizona Robbins, head of PEDS." Isadora was skillfully hiding the fact that she was undressing Arizona with her eyes. "She's only older by two years. I'm actually Head of Vascular and transferring in from Desert Palm in Vegas." Arizona shook her hand while Callie looked on in surprise. "Wait, you're coming here?" "If you thought I was going to let you go through this whole situation in Doom and Gloom by yourself, then you're insane." "But papi" "Knows why I'm doing this. Don't argue, just say thank you. If it weren't for me, then Pote would be here to kill the Keebler elf." Arizona was intrigued by their interaction; Isadora looked at Arizona with a questioning grin, "What?" Arizona shrugged it off and swallowed down her sadness, "I used to be this was with my brother before he died." Both Torres sisters put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "We've been there before too—losing a sibling. You're more than welcome to join the dysfunction." Callie said. Arizona gave a smile that was starting to get under Isadora's skin, "I'd really like that." Callie kissed Avril on the head softly before stopping to ask, "Who's going to sign to her when she wakes up?" Arizona put a reassuring hand on Callie's shoulder, "I have a resident who has deaf parents and his shift starts in 6 hours. It'll be okay." Callie finally let her sister pry her away from Avril's room as they started to leave the hospital. "There still an extra room at the house?" "Yeah, but now that makes Casa Torres officially fully booked."

Callie let Alex know before she left that Avril was being watched by Arizona. "Alex, the police will want a statement." His jaw tensed, "I don't know what to do. I have a feeling that my sister did this but, if she didn't, she'll definitely protect who did. I don't want Avril to have to go through that." "Al, I know that it sucks, but putting it off will not help her heal any faster—especially emotionally. But the two of you will survive this, no matter what happens." Isadora had a knowing smirk on her face as they bid Alex goodnight and went to the parking lot.

Isadora settled in quickly to the house laughing at how Addison had to be reined in by Miranda in the furniture section; on the other hand, the roles were reversed when they got to the children's section with Addison having to almost drag Miranda out the store. The four women and Tucker enjoyed a lovely paella made by Miranda. After a couple of hours, almost everyone was in bed…except the Torres sisters. Callie was sitting on the edge of her bed with documents in her hands. Isadora was in the closet, looking for something to wear the next day, when she heard a phone vibrating. She walked back into Callie's bedroom, "Yours or mine?" Callie replied, "Mine. Alex was just complaining about the cot in Avril's room being uncomfortable." Isadora asked, "What are those?" while motioning to the documents. "Divorce papers. I had my lawyer go back over them to ensure that George couldn't come after my money or any of my investments. My lawyer suggested that I get ahead of childbirth and petition the court for sole custody of my baby." "Is that something you want to do?" "I don't know. Ask me a year ago, I'd tell you that he'd make an excellent father. Now, I don't even know him. He got so snarky and mean after we lost Teagan. It didn't help that his dad died 3 months later. I wouldn't keep this baby from his mom, but I don't want hostility around my child. I don't trust George or Izzie right now, regardless of her being pregnant. I just want to protect my baby." Isadora sat on the bed, "So, petition for sole custody and if things change, then amend it. It's better to go to war with an arsenal then with just what you scramble to get." Callie smiled, "The famous words of Pote and Nazanin. I miss them so much." Isadora looked down at both of their matching tattoos of their sister and sighed, "You know that she'd be so happy for you. She probably would've already had a nursery done by now."

Callie's eyes watered, "I was thinking, that if I had a girl, I'd name her Nazanin." "Please tell me you won't name your son Pote? One of him in this family is enough." They both laughed before Callie said, "I'd probably name him Artuto—especially because Turo gave me the bone marrow that saved my life." Isadora's eyes watered, "I was so scared then. I was scared that my sister would never make it to her 12th birthday. Once you made it past that, I decided that I'd be fearless like my big sister for the rest of my life." Callie wanted to change the mood desperately, "So, you crushing on Arizona?" "You crushing on Alex?"


	4. Chapter 4

**WORTH THE FIGHT **

Days turned into weeks as they turned into months. Within the past 6 months, Avril had a success redo of her botched cochlear surgery, Alex and Avril settled comfortably into their new apartment(courtesy of Callie), Callie's pregnancy progressed with few complications, George and Izzie imploded, Izzie told George that she aborted his baby, Izzie moved on with her former photographer—whom she is currently rumored to be pregnant by/engaged to, Alex and Callie's friendship blossomed, and Callie finally told her family about her pending divorce and pregnancy. To keep his promise of separating from her mother, Callie's father expanded his business to the West Coast and settled into a vast home 30 mins away from Callie in Medina, WA. Callie's brother, Pote, visited a few times and hit it off with Cristina; both Cristina and Pote thought that Callie and Isadora were oblivious to their many "dates". Isadora thought that Callie was oblivious to how close she had become with Arizona. Callie foolishly thought that no one knew how close she and Alex were.

Alex and Avril came to Callie's for movie nights with Tuck twice a week. Callie went to Alex's for stroganoff Thursdays after they both fell in love with Callie's cooking skills. Alex felt himself falling hard for Callie and he wanted it to stop. He went to a very unlikely source that had recently become his best male friend. Alex sought advice from none other than Jackson Avery. He breezed through Meredith's door, glad that no one was really there, and went straight up to Jackson's room. He walked into what was once his old bedroom and plopped into the chair. Jackson opened a sleepy eye as he looked over his shoulder to see Alex brooding. He turned over with a yawn, "Let me guess…you still haven't made your move?" Alex grunted, "First off, she's pregnant. Second, my kid is obsessed with her and they're joined at the hip, third-" "You're a chicken shit" Alex glared at Jackson, "Watch it mama's boy." Jackson sat up in the bed as Alex tossed him a pair of pants and a shirt, "Alex, you're either in love with her or falling in love with her. Either way, you need to get it off your chest. She won't know unless you tell her. You guys are already a makeshift family. From what Yang told me, you were the one who wanted to date her first, but you detoured to Izzie. What in the hell is so special about her?"

Alex rubbed a hand over his neck, "Honestly, Izzie is easy—easy in the way of someone not having to put much effort into the relationship. Callie is work; as long as you're ready for sex and tell her she's pretty, Izzie is happy. Callie is the kind of woman where you are terrified of screwing up because she's perfection. She's the kind of woman that makes you a one-woman man. Callie is the kind of woman you spend the rest of your life making happy because she only wants simple things. Izzie liked being kept; I refused to do it, Denny died, and Bambi would never be able to." Jackson looked at Alex with a smirk, "Dude, you're so whipped. She's not with George anymore. She only rarely has run-ins with Izzie. Your kid adores her. Go get your girl before someone else does." Jackson one-night wonder came back into the room looking for her shirt. Alex barely paid her any attention before he passed her the shirt that was behind him; Alex caught Jackson's smile, "Dude what?"

Jackson laughed before looking up at the woman, who shared the same smile. She timidly spoke up, "He's basically saying that this woman owns your heart. I have quite a nice rack, courtesy of Dr. Sloan, and you haven't even looked in my general direction. You should really tell her how you feel. Thanks for last night Jackson." Alex finally noticed her absence as she left the room. He looked at a grinning Jackson and threw a football at him, "Shut it Avery." Neither one of them noticed that George had come down from the attic and listened in on their entire conversation. _Callie is carrying my child. She'll always love me and I'm going to win her back no matter what._


	5. Chapter 5

**WHAT'S DONE IN THE DARK COMES TO LIGHT **

Callie was in the middle of fixing multiple fractures when the OR doors slide open, "Calliope, change your shoes." Callie inwardly groaned as she looked over to see Arizona with a pair of gel-insoled Sketchers. Callie was comfortable in her Adidas, but no one else cared. Alex, along with Addison and Arizona, had become a mother hen. He always demanded that she change into more comfortable shoes if she was in surgery longer than 4 hours. Callie had gotten to the point where she would erase her name, not her surgery, off the OR board to escape the hounding. She knew they all meant well, but she felt like an invalid subjected to all their restrictions. She had almost finished her current surgery before she got busted. "Arizona, I'm almost done. I'm fine." The blonde chuckled, "Yeah no. You were being sneaky again, so it took me a while to find you. In the words of Karev, 'Tell little Ms. Hardhead that if she doesn't change her shoes, then I will make sure that I'm scrubbed into all her surgeries so that she will. Even if it means that I miss the gory surgeries. Don't give her room to argue.' Change your shoes Calliope." Calliope rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the snickers of her OR. She allowed Arizona to help her change shoes. Callie couldn't put into words why she was so comfortable with Alex being so hands on with her pregnancy. He came to every ultrasound appointment and assured Addison that he'd make sure that she didn't overdo it. She failed to notice George glowering at her from the corner of the observation deck.

Callie went to the Attendings on-call for a much needed nap. The biggest problem of her pregnancy was how sleepy she was all the time. Although she was about to enter her 7th month, she barely had a pronounced bump. Before she went to sleep, she called George's mom and asked to meet for lunch—she agreed happily and planned to meet up with Callie the following day. Callie was asleep before her head hit the pillow. George followed Callie towards the on-call room. He waited for about 30 minutes and slipped quietly into the room. He stood motionless for a moment and just stared at her; her caramel skin glowed even more. She had cut her hair up to her shoulders, but it was still thick and shiny. The pregnancy hadn't marred her flawless skin. He smiled at the protective hand she had over her stomach. He walked over to the bed and gently reached out to massage her calves. She moaned softly in her sleep, "Thank you Alex". George stopped immediately and clenched his jaw. _Don't get mad at her. Alex is taking advantage of her situation. She is MY wife and she's the mother of MY child, not his. _

Callie turned to where her back was facing the door. George climbed over her and settled with his back against the wall. He softly ran his fingers over her cheek. He placed Callie's arm over his hip. He rubbed his hand against her belly—for the first time ever—feeling the baby kick. George pecked Callie on the lips before kissing her fully. Alex strolled up to the 3rd floor and over to the nurses' station. He ignored the flirty eyes that they made at him and asked, "Do any of you know where Torres is?" One of the nurses finally stop trying to flirt with him, "The attendings on-call room sleeping I think." "Thanks." Alex made his way to the room with a smile on his face. He planned to reward Callie for complying with his shoe rule by giving her the one allowed chocolate bar for the day. Alex opened the door slowly to see George kissing Callie; her back was turned, so he didn't know that she was asleep. He closed the door before either of them saw him and stormed off. However, George had noticed Alex and smiled smugly to himself. George started to creep his hands under her scrub pants. He was about to reach for the waistband of her panties before he froze. Right in the hallway was the faint voice of Addison. He could hear her walking towards the door right before he heard Arizona say, "Don't go in. She's taking a nap. Let her rest, we'll wake her up in a couple of hours." He waited until they walked away and let out the breath he was holding and continue to work his hand into her panties. He bit his tongue to stop from moaning when he felt her body reacting to his fingers. He missed bringing her to climax with his fingers. More than anything, he missed her taste. _I have to taste her again. _George slowly pulled bottoms down. He kissed the top of her mound before he inhaled her scent. He didn't even think before swiping his tongue over her slit. He reached into his own pants and started trying to relieve the pressure of his erection. _Izzie never tasted this good, no one did._ George knew that it was wrong, but he missed her so bad. _She is still my wife._ He stopped himself from getting too carried away and moved away from her. He stood next to the bed and watched her sleep as he stroked himself to completion. He cleaned himself up and retied her scrubs before laying back down in the same position he was in previously.

George watched as Callie shifted, once again, in her sleep with an uncomfortable look on her face. Callie moaned in her sleep, "Al, my head hurts." _Al? What the hell! _ George pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. He watched as she smiled in her sleep and murmured, "Thank you."


	6. Chapter 6

**MISUNDERSTANDINGS **

George carefully climbed out the bed and walked as far away from that room as he could. Alex burst into one of the labs to find Jackson. Jackson looked up from the skin graft he was working on to see Alex struggling to get his words out. "What happened Alex?" Alex kicked a nearby stool, "She's back with him. I go to give her some chocolate as a reward and he's got his tongue down her throat and she's not even fighting back. Who the hell am I kidding? She's got my heart in a vice grip and I let her. How could I be this stupid? She was always open to going back to him. He broke her heart…and I've done everything I can to mend it—but clearly I wasn't the one she wanted to heal her." Jackson was about to speak when his pager went off; Alex failed to notice April being in the lab until she walked out silently ahead of Jackson. Alex just stared straight ahead for over a half an hour. He jumped a mile in the air when he felt someone touch his shoulder. He turned around to see Callie, "You okay Al? Your pager has been going off for like 5 minutes while you were in Lalaland", she said with a soft smile. His anger wouldn't let him kiss her on the cheek like he normally did. He brushed past her quickly and bit out "Don't call me Al. Not right now, not ever again."

Callie stood in the same spot dumbfounded as to why Alex was so upset. When she walked out of the lab she walked up to April at the nurses' station. "Hey Kepner." April turned around surprised and apologetic, "Hey Dr. Torres. I am so sorry that I haven't done the post ops yet. Every time I turn around, Dr. Bailey has me doing a bunch of other things." Callie waved her off, "First, call me Callie. Second, Bailey is putting your through the ringer because she sees the potential that you have out of the other residents. I'll get Lexie to do the post ops, she's my resident anyways. I'm not sure if you guys are close or not, but do you know what's wrong with Alex? Did he lose a patient or something?" _April's thoughts were screaming at her 'Oh my God, she doesn't know! _ Callie could tell that April was fighting with say something, so she pulled them into the same on-call room, she'd been in minutes ago. April looked completely uncomfortable. "Kepner, please just spit it out." All her words came out in a rush so fast that Callie almost didn't understand what she was actually saying. "Alex thinks that you're back with George. He said that he was coming by to give you chocolate and that the two of you were kissing and you weren't resisting." "What!" Callie exclaimed. April started to say, "It's none of my-" but Callie stopped her. "No! I went to the on-call room to take a nap. I was so tired after surgery. When I was almost asleep I felt Alex massaging my calves like he always does when I'm done with surgery. Oh my God! It wasn't Alex…it was George. I remember saying that my head hurt and I thought that Alex kissed my temple like he always does, but it was George. He thinks that I'm back with George. I wasn't even fully awake when George was touching me." April's heart broke for the both of them, "Dr—Callie I really love working on your service and I've spent time with Alex, as a big group, outside of work. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that I think he's in love with you even if you don't feel the same. He feels like George will always have a better chance at winning you heart than him. I think that the two of you should talk." Kepner turned around to say one more thing, "I'll split the post ops with Lexie. He might be in the basement."


	7. Chapter 7

**TRUE COLORS **

Callie felt hurt that Alex would even think that about her. She felt pissed that George touched her at all while she was practically unconscious. Mostly, she felt betrayed that Alex didn't trust her enough to ask before assuming that she was back together with George. By the time she made it to the basement and saw him with Avery, she was downright pissed. She stormed over to them, Avery comically gulped, with fire in eyes and all but screamed, "Who the fuck do you think you are Alex? I had to find out from Kepner why you're so pissed at me!" "Look Cal-", Alex interrupted but Callie stopped him. "Shut the fuck up!" Alex did as she asked and waited for her to speak. "I was taking a nap. I didn't know that George was in the on-call room. I thought that you were the one massaging my calves like you always do when I'm out of surgery. I thought that it was you that kissed my temple, like you always do even though it doesn't take the headache away, when I said that my head hurt. You should've asked me instead of assuming. I would never go back to George after what he put me through. My life has been a rollercoaster for the past 2 ½ years before you and Avril became a big part of my life. I've been less stressed with this pregnancy because of you. Every time George does bullshit towards me, you deflect even though you think I don't already know that. You don't get to do this." Tears started to trickle down her face, Alex reached out, but she pulled away, "Do what Cal?" Callie stared at him through tears, "You don't get to show me how a man is truly supposed to care about a woman only to bolt. I've never dated somebody that treats me the way you do and we aren't even dating. You don't get to make me fall in love with your kid and walk away. If you don't trust me, then everything needs to stop right here and now. Don't worry, I'll be the one holding the scissors this time."


	8. Chapter 8

**WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ON-CALL ROOM?**

Alex wanted to go after Callie, but in that moment, he knew he'd get punched. He gave Avery a sad look and the man offered him silent support. "Let her cool off man." Alex hurriedly went to shower and let his tears fall as the loud shower muted his cries. Callie walked into the elevator seeing Addison and Arizona. "There she is…Buttercup!" Arizona beamed. Callie looked between the two of them before Addison responded, "Her patient, Ruby, loves the Powerpuff girls. Ever since she saw us at the nurses' station during rounds, she's been calling us them. I'm Blossom, Ari is Bubbles, and you're Buttercup." Callie nodded in understanding and muttered out, "So, Grey, Izzie, and Cristina are the Rowdy Ruff boys…leaving George to be Mojo JoJo." They all burst out laughing but Arizona could see that it didn't reach her eyes, "Are you okay Calliope?" Callie shook her head, "Food first. I'll talk but I have to feed the mini before my ribs get broken." Callie was in the cafeteria with Addison and Arizona; she had filled them in on what happened with George and Alex. Addison leaned over to quietly ask, "Did George-you know- rape you?" Callie's eyes went wide with fear and uncertainty, "I don't know. I mean, I don't feel like anyone had sex with me." Arizona asked, "Were you aroused when you woke up?" Callie blushed, "I'm always aroused. The worst part of this pregnancy is that when I sleep, I'm almost comatose. I rarely hear or feel anything. Addison fanned Callie's scent towards herself; "Addie, what the hell are you doing? Do I smell or something?" Addison pondered, "Yeah, you do. You smell like your normal spiced vanilla. But-" "But what?" Callie asked. "Your scrubs smell like the Axe wood cologne." Callie's eyes filled with tears, "George wears that. Mark wears Tom Ford. Alex wears P. Diddy. Almost every other man in my life wears either Marc Jacobs or Curve. George is the only man that I know who wears Axe. Oh my God, what did he do to me?" Arizona tried in vain to get Callie to relax, "Why are you always aroused? Are you seeing someone?" Callie rolled her eyes, "We all live together; although you spend more time in Isa's room than on the couch. Yeah I'm definitely dating someone at 7 months pregnant! I usually wake up aroused after dreaming about Alex" she said whispering out the last part. She refused to meet their eyes when they both burst out in laughter, "Well no shit" was said simultaneously.

Addison's face turned serious again; she looked up at Kepner from across the cafeteria and beckoned her with a finger. Arizona saw this and distracted Callie with talk about her patient. Addison got up, with the pretense of throwing away her trash, and said in a hushed tone to April, "Find the chief for me ASAP. George may have sexually assaulted Callie." April's eyes went wide when she thought about that happening and hurried off without saying another word. Callie half-listened to Arizona's story as her mind continued to drift to George. She felt the bile rising in her throat and jetted out of the cafeteria. "Calliope!" Arizona shouted as she ran after her. Addison looked around to see everyone watching and went after Callie. She got to the bathroom and immediately block Izzie from entering, "Look, I know what she's going through" Izzie pointed to her own belly "Um hello. I can probably help." When Addison didn't move, Izzie exasperated, "Seriously!" Addison got in Izzie's face, "You are not her friend. You are her enemy. You ruined her marriage and tried to go after her reputation." Izzie smugly looked at Addison, "You and all of her judgmental, holy than thou friends love to paint me as the bad guy. I'm not the one who hooked up with my ex, today, in an on-call room. For someone who hates George the way she does, she wasn't hating him when his hands were in her pants, nor when his mouth was getting her off" Izzie finished in a sing-song voice before waking off. Addison's jaw dropped, _he actually assaulted her and bragged about it to his friends, _before seeing Alex out the corner of her eye fuming. He took off in a sprint and Addison tried to keep up, as much as her high heels would let her. When she made it to the stairs, she ran into Yang. "Where's the fire She-Shepard?" She kept going until Yang asked the question again. "I'm trying to find Alex before he murders George for what he did to Callie today."

Cristina froze in place, almost with steam coming out her ears, and raced down the steps behind Addison, "I told Meredith that it wasn't adding up." Addison was out of breath by the time they reached the parking lot, "What didn't add up?" she asked Yang. "When George came into the residents' lounge to eat lunch with us, he told us about him and Callie. He said that she allowed him to kiss her and that they made almost to the point of actual penis/vagina action before his pager went off. I knew he was lying about something because Callie couldn't stand to be near him. I've seen how she practically drops dead when she's sleepy. I mean, with how close her and Evil Spawn are, I knew that there was no way that she willingly did that with him." Addison looked around frantically, "Where the hell are they?" Yang grabbed her arm and pointed to a far corner of the parking where she saw two figures running. They both reached the two men as Alex started to pummel George. By now, Mark, Derek, the Chief, and Bailey were outside trying to break it up. Derek and the Chief managed to pry Alex off a battered George. "What the hell is wrong with you Karev?" the chief demanded to know. Alex fought hard to get out of their grip, "Stay the fuck away from Callie. I will fucking kill you if you go near her again. He assaulted her while she was asleep. I'm going to kill you!" Mark screamed at the top of his lungs, "YOU DID WHAT TO CALLIE?" The group failed to notice Callie and Arizona standing there until she fainted. Arizona caught her before she hit the ground and screamed, "Addison! She's bleeding."


	9. Chapter 9

Callie woke up feeling like she'd vomit; as if on cue, she sat up and emptied her stomach into a nearby trash can. It was so powerful and painful that tears rolled down her cheeks. "Pussycat?" Callie looked up to see Addison standing there. "What happened Addie?" Addison bit her lip, "Callie, you were bleeding. I need to ask you some questions."

"_We _need to ask you some questions." Callie turned her head to see a cop in uniform and a detective. She started to panic, "What's going on Addison? Tell me!" Addison sat down at the edge of her bed, "Callie, you collapsed in the parking lot after you started bleeding." "Bleeding? My baby?" Callie asked through tears. "Is stable for now. He's a fighter like you." "He? I'm having a boy?" Callie asked with a watery smile. Addison put a comforting hand on Callie's face, "Yeah, you're having a boy." Callie was confused, "What caused the bleeding?" Addison looked away as her eyes filled with tears. "Addison! Tell me!"

"Dr. Torres, my name is Detective Fisher. After conferring with Dr. Montgomery, we believe that your bleeding may have been a result of sexual assault. Dr. Montgomery performed a rape kit on you, that came back positive. Have you recently been intimate with anyone?" Callie was calm, too calm, and it was scaring the hell out of Addison. "No, I haven't been intimate. So, someone raped me? Was it George?" The detective sat down in a chair, "Can you tell me what you remember?" Callie wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. She wrung her hands nervously, "I had a long surgery and I needed a nap. I went into the attendings on-call room to sleep because I knew it'd be empty. I'm usually a heavy sleeper but it's become even more intense since I got pregnant. I rarely hear or feel anything when I'm asleep. I woke up feeling like something was different…I just didn't know what. What did he do to me?"

Addison fanned her tears away, "Callie, you remember earlier when we were talking about what happened? George admitted to his friends that he'd had oral sex with you. He also tried to get you off with his fingers. Callie there's something else." Callie looked at Addison and blinked away the tear that rolled down her cheek, "The something else is that George raped me, right?" Addison shook her head, "I think so, but I can't prove it. You don't remember and George ran." Callie felt her heart stop when Addison said that George ran. "Please just leave. I'm not able to help your case, George is on the run, and I'm tired." Addison tried to reach out to Callie, but she snapped, "Don't touch me Addison. I'm in the middle of the divorce from hell, my husband intentionally sabotaged my birth control to get me pregnant in the first place, and now you're telling me that he raped me while I'm carrying _his _child. I don't want to talk anymore. Get out!"

Addison fled the room in tears, but the detective stuck around, "You said that he purposely sabotaged your birth control." Callie was battling tears, "I think he overheard a conversation that I was having with my brother about being miserable in my marriage. At the time, I would've gotten out with no problem. The only issue with our wedding was that I made him sign a prenup. Getting me pregnant guarantees that he at least gets child support, maybe even alimony. George found out a week before we got married that I come from a wealthy family and that I have a lot of lucrative investments. Dragging this out guarantees him a spot in my life…in some capacity. I've answered your questions, can you please just leave?" The officers decided to respect her wishes and leave Callie's room.

Alex gave his statement while his hands were being wrapped in gauze. He told them that everyone was so focused on Callie, that George took his chance to get away. He felt sick, knowing that George raped Callie. He knew that he had to try and see her, even if she was pissed at him. When he got to her room, she had her back turned towards the door. As if she could sense his presence, she said "Can you believe it? Can you believe that a guy as meek and gentle as George could do this to me?" He didn't respond.

"I know it's you Alex. I can see your reflection in the window. George was never like this. I feel like I did this to him. Before me, he was the awkward intern with a big heart and an unhealthy fixation on Meredith Grey. Now, he's a mean asshole that is taking every chance he can get to make my life hell. I can't wrap my head around George raping me. Then again, I can't wrap my head around George violating me while I was sleeping. I'm having a son. I'm having a son that shares half of his gene pool with the man that hurt his mother in every way that he could. How am I supposed to-" Alex could tell by the shaking in her voice that she was near a breakdown; he helped Callie lie down on the bed just before she burst into tears. Alex held her as she cried loudly until he was sure that she was asleep. He rubbed her stomach until he felt the baby kicking. He leaned down and whispered to her belly, "Your mom is strong but she's scared little guy. You have to take care of her so that she can stop being scared. Don't worry, I'll be here—even when she hates me. I will always be here for you and your mom."

He pulled Callie's blanket up higher and stroked her hair. He spoke in a whisper, "I'm in love with you Callie." She scared him when she spoke because he thought she was sleeping, "I know Alex. I've known since the beginning."


	10. Chapter 10

Alex was watching Callie move around the hospital room; she was anxious to be discharged. For the past day, she hadn't spoken much. He never left her side; whenever the nightmares started, he held her close until she was able to fall back asleep. He didn't know if it was fear or respect, but very few people came by her room. He watched her shoulders start to shake, "What do you need Cal?" without turning around, she sniffled and said, "Addie." Alex quickly left her room in search of the redhead.

Callie rubbed her round belly, "I'm so sorry baby. I am so sorry that I almost let him hurt you. I will spend the rest of my life making sure that no one ever hurts you. I was really praying that you would have a good dad, like your grandpa." _She started to think about Alex. _"Maybe you still have a shot at that baby boy."

Callie smelled Addison's perfume and turned around slowly. This was the first time that Callie had ever saw the woman nervous; she felt horrible and could stop the stream of tears, "I'm so sorry Addie." Addison rushed over and pulled Callie into a tight hug, "It's okay pussycat." Callie shook her head and put her forehead against Addison's, "I was scared and angry because I didn't know what was done to me. Addie, did I do this? Did I push George to this dark place he's in?" Before Addison could respond a loud and demanding voice came from behind them.

"You say anything else stupid like that and I will smack you myself." They turned to see Bailey staring them down with her hands on her hips. The short woman stepped forward, "Calliope listen to what I am about to say." Callie was stunned silent by the use of her full first name and remained quiet. Bailey continued, "You are one of the strongest and kindest women I've ever met. When everything went south with Tucker, you were the one that decided to buy a house and move us in. You supported me emotionally and even financially when you didn't have to. You've babysat and stood in as an active godmother with Tuck every time that his father broke another promise to him. When Addison went through her debacle with Shepard, you added a wing and three more rooms onto the house. Callie, you loved George from the very beginning even when he treated you badly. You were there for him when he lost his dad and put up will all the nasty things he said to you. You didn't do this. Don't get me wrong, I like George, but I love you like a sister. George wasn't ready for the kind of love you give people. He made his choice and now he's living with it. All you need to worry about now is bringing this baby into the world safely."

Alex stood in the doorway and cleared his throat, "Car's ready Cal." Bailey smirked and stood on her toes to whisper in her ear, "And you already have a good man that wants to give you everything you deserve." Callie blushed and looked away shyly. She was about to speak when an out of breath Arizona came running into her room. She looked at Callie and said, "Isa's been looking for you."

Callie started to panic, "What's wrong?" Arizona hesitated to tell Callie, but she needed to know. "Calliope, someone broke into the house. The police think that it might have been George, because your room was the only one disturbed. The police are looking for him, but he's vanished." Callie got scared all over again, but Alex wrapped his arms around her. "You're staying with me and Avril. Addison, Bailey—"

Arizona cut in, "Isa said that your dad is staying at the house with the rest of us and that your brother Pote is flying in." Callie's head was spinning; she looked up at Alex with tears flowing, "Why would he run? What else does he want to do to me?" Her tears were breaking his heart. Bailey was pissed beyond belief and said, "Karev, get her to your place and we'll check on you guys later. I'm going to get some answers." Everyone moved out of her way as she left in a huff. Addison hugged Callie tight, "It'll be okay. Go with Alex." Callie nodded her head and let Alex lead her out of the hospital. Addison turned to the only person left in the room—Arizona—and asked, "What else is it that you didn't mention?" Arizona bit her lip, "The police had an arrest warrant but somehow he knew in enough time to run. After talking to Isa, the only thing missing out of Callie's room was her wedding ring and the divorce papers she had drawn up." Addison shook her head, "The ring he gave her wasn't worth that much. How far could he get?" Arizona shrugged, "He's not thinking this out. He's panicking, but there is a possibility that someone is helping him. Maybe his family." Addison rubbed her temple, not wanting to think about anyone helping George get away with what he did to Callie.

Just outside the hospital, Alex was helping Callie get into the car when a voice made her freeze. "Callie." She turned around to see the watery eyes of Louise O'Malley. She almost broke right then and flinched when Louise walked close to her. Louise was offended that Callie was afraid of her and took a step back. She looked at Callie through tears, "The police came to talk to me. Callie, I promise you that I had no idea that anything had happened. I didn't even know that you were considering divorce. This is not a George O'Malley that I know. I'm not sure when he changed—maybe when you guys lost Teagan."

Callie interrupted, "Are you saying that it's my fault that I miscarried my daughter? Or are you saying that it's my fault that your son sexually assaulted me when I was asleep?" Callie's anger startled Louise, "Of course not. I'm just at a loss for how any of this transpired." Callie swiped away the tears, "Me too Mama O'Malley. Please just leave me alone right now. I'm not ready to talk about of any of this." She got into the car and let Alex close the door. He took a step towards Louise, "She didn't mean to lash out at you. She's afraid and worried about the baby. George is running from the police; if he contacts you, please tell the police. If you're helping him, then you need to reconsider. You've already lost one grandchild. None of us know what he might try to do to this one."

Louise put a hand on his arm, "Did he hurt the baby?" Alex let out a breath, "Thankfully no. But he was rough enough with Callie to cause bleeding. All due respect Mrs. O'Malley, he stopped being the son you knew a long time ago, but that doesn't mean that you failed him."

Bailey walked up behind the huddled group of women and immediately barked out, "Where is he?" making the three of them jump out their skin. Yang immediately put her hands up, "I don't know anything and if I did I wouldn't protect him?" Bailey turned her glare to Meredith and Izzie, who remained quiet. Guilt was written all over Izzie's face. Bailey's stare was too much, causing Meredith to turn to Izzie and hiss out "tell her." Bailey crossed her arms over her chest, "Tell me what?"

Izzie grabbed Meredith's arm in an attempt to keep her quiet, but Meredith pulled her arm away. "I found some kind of crushed up powder and a syringe in the laundry room. I asked Jackson, April, and Lexie if it was theirs'. It turned out that it was George's. I don't what the powder actually was." Bailey looked right at Izzie, "Is he using drugs?"

Izzie shrugged and mumbled out, "I don't know." "Speak up Stevens!", Bailey demanded. Izzie huffed, "I don't know and I don't want to know!" Bailey's anger flared once more, "Are you helping him?" Izzie reluctantly shook her head yes. Cristina and Meredith both looked at her with wide eyes, "What!"

Bailey asked, "Why are you helping him? I want the truth Stevens!" Izzie got hysterical, "Did you see what he did to Callie? That is not going to be me. I don't know what he's on, just that he's on something. I don't know why he's like this or why he is going after Callie like that. I may not like her, but I wouldn't wish that on her." While she was talking, Bailey kept looking at the protective way she was holding her belly…then a lightbulb went off. She held up a hand to stop Izzie from talking, "The baby you're pregnant with isn't your fiancé's, is it? That baby is George's isn't it? You lied and said that it was someone else's."

Izzie broke down, "He could've killed Callie and the baby. I won't let that happen to me. Yes, I lied but can you blame me? Look at how he's acting." Yang abruptly asked a question, "Okay you lied, whatever. But what is he holding over you to the point where you're helping him evade the police? What the hell does he have on you?"

Izzie sat down on a nearby bench and held her stomach tight, "Hannah. He knows about Hannah and he's threatening to hurt her to get what he wants."

"What does he want?" Meredith asked. Izzie cried loudly, "I don't know! I wish I did because I would give it to him."

Bailey was confused and asked, "Who's Hannah?" Izzie let out a sigh, "My first child. I had her when I was 14 and I gave her up for adoption. The problem is that she got adopted and moved to Florida with her new family." Bailey was getting irritated, "Why is that a bad thing?" Izzie wouldn't meet anyone's eyes, "I found out a few years ago, only because she was looking for me, that she was adopted by Elliott and Marisol Danvers."

Meredith and Cristina asked at the same time, "Who the hell are they?" Izzie's watery eyes met Bailey's shocked ones. The short woman responded almost in a whisper, "Marisol is Callie's older sister and Elliott is her husband."


	11. Chapter 11

Alex rushed over to get his ringing cell phone, picking up just before it stopped ringing. "Bailey, what's wrong?" "Where's Callie?" "I ran her a bath." "Thank God."

Alex went onto the balcony and shut the sliding door behind him. "Just give it to me straight." Bailey let out a breath and said, "Izzie came clean about helping O'Malley. She said she helped him get away out of fear. She is legitimately carrying _his _child instead of her fiancé's"

Alex interrupted and scoffed, "I could've told you that. Her timeline of getting pregnant by the new guy never added up." Bailey cleared her throat, "Stevens said that she was afraid of him because of what he's already done to Callie. Apparently, he's on some sort of drug because Grey found powder and a syringe in her house that belonged to him. He threatened Stevens with hurting her first child, Hannah."

Alex ran a hand across the back of his neck, "Yeah I know about Hannah. What does she have to do with anything?" "Hannah was adopted by Callie's sister Marisol and her husband." Alex felt his heart constrict because he knew how close Callie was with Marisol—as well as Hannah. "What do you want me to do Bailey."

"For now, don't tell Callie. I want the police to investigate and give us more information before we tell her." "Bailey, I am not lying to her", Alex said nearly screaming. Bailey's tone matched his, "I'm not asking you to lie—just don't tell her anything. Keep her focused on staying calm." "Yeah alright."

The hot bath relaxed Callie immensely and she shuffled out of the bathroom in search of Alex. She found him in the kitchen at the stove making something fried. She walked over quietly and hugged him from behind, "Thank you for running me a bath." "Don't mention it." Callie stared at his fidgeting posture before asking, "What are you making?"

Alex simply shrugged and said, "Eggrolls because I know how much you like them." Callie was surprised, "You can make eggrolls? Well color me surprised Al." Alex turned around with a mischievous smirk and said, "I can work Google and YouTube Cal." Callie was about to laugh but once they locked eyes, she felt her heart nearly beat out of her chest. Unbeknownst to her, she never felt her body move closer to his until she could feel his breath on her face. He lifted a hand and cradled her face softly as she whispered, "Kiss me Al."

Alex let out a sigh of contentment when their lips finally met. He'd been waiting for this moment for months. He heard her whimper and took the opportunity to sink his tongue through her parting lips. Callie reached behind him to turn the stove off and pulled him closer. He ensured that nothing was on the counter before gently lifting her upon it. She unconsciously spread her legs for him as he moved closer. She moaned in protest when he pulled away and put some distance between them. "What's wrong Al?"

Alex ran a hand over his face, "I can't—we can't do this right now." Callie was hurt and couldn't stop her eyes from welling with tears, "You don't find me attractive." Callie rushed to get away from him, but firm hands on her hips stopped her in place. Alex held her face between his hands until she finally looked him in the eye. With his own tears brimming, he said "I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world. You always have been to me. I can't do this because I'd be taking advantage of you. I love you too much to hurt you. You are in the middle of a shitstorm with Bambi. Nothing that has happened changes how I feel about you. When this happens—and it will—I don't want you to be scared about Bambi or something with the baby. I want you to be the confident, sexy, sassy woman that I love. I want you to have a better image of yourself instead of labeling yourself as a victim. I would die before I ever destroyed your trust and faith in me. Got it?" Unable to speak, Callie nodded her head and kissed him on the lips.

Alex helped her down and went about finishing their dinner as Callie walked around the condo aimlessly. She stopped front of the pictures adorning the walls. She smiled warmly when recalling how nervous Alex was becoming an instant dad. He made the transition of being Avril's dad perfectly. Although she felt safe and comfortable with Alex, she knew that there was something he wasn't telling her. They ate in silence and decided to try and watch some tv. Alex turned on his favorite show _Ridiculousness _and Callie tried to keep her mouth shut and just watch it with him. She lasted about 40 minutes before blurting out, "I know there's something you're not telling me. I would say that it's about us, but I know that it isn't. You know something about George don't you?"

Alex let a frustrated sigh as he hoped she wouldn't push the issue; he wanted to keep his word to Bailey but he refused to lie to Callie. Alex looked at Callie and asked, "Does he have any drug problems that you know of?" Callie broke eye contact and got up from the couch. She ran a hand through her hair, "I thought he was clean. He started using right after we lost Teagan. I helped him get clean, but he had a relapse after his dad died. He told me that he went back to rehab and even showed me his one-month sobriety chip."

Alex asked, "What was he using?" Callie sniffled but refused to face him, "Dilaudid. After I first caught him, he started to abuse creatine powder. He sniffed it because it gave him a high without compromising his surgical skills. How do you know about his drug problem?" Alex cleared his throat, "Meredith found powder and a syringe."

Callie let out a sigh, "So much for his sobriety. Anyways, what does that have to do with anything?" "I told Bailey that I wouldn't lie to you, so I won't. Izzie helped George get away because he threatened to hurt her first kid, Hannah. Hannah was adopted by—"

"My sister and brother-in-law" Callie finished. "Is that where he's going? Has anybody told them? Have they-" Alex jumped up to calm her down. "Cal I don't know any more than that I promise. I just couldn't lie to you with everything going on." Callie's phone started to ring and she frowned at the unknown number. Alex watched a mirage of expressions flash across her face before she finally hung up the phone. Alex stared to call her name but it landed on deaf ears as she raced around the place looking for something. "Callie. Callie. Calliope!"

That got her attention as she stopped moved and looked at him, "Callie, what's wrong? Who was on the phone?" "It…it was the hospital. George's mom was just admitted. Alex, I think he did something to her. I need to check on her." For a moment, Alex was in complete awe of how much she still cared about her soon-to-be mother-in-law in spite of everything that's happening. Alex knew that she'd just march out on her own, "Let me grab some shoes Callie." Callie shook her head no, "What about Avril? That sugar high from recess still has her out cold." Alex disappeared for a couple of minutes and came back with shoes on and a sleeping Avril in his arms. He looked at her as he grabbed his keys, "Grab a jacket Cal, it's getting chilly."

Callie smirked at him and muttered, "Yes mom." He looked over his shoulder and said, "Watch it. You may be sexy but watch it." Callie chuckled and helped him settle Avril into her car seat.

When they got to the hospital, Callie demanded to know which trauma room she was in. She went into the room and gasped aloud. Louise O'Malley had bruises adorning the left side of her face, Lexie was getting her fit for a splint on her left wrist, and Mark was suturing her side. Callie tried to blink through her flowing tears, "Mama O'Malley, what happened?"

Louise started to cry when she looked at Callie. Callie failed to notice the detective standing in the corner of the room hoping that Callie's presence would make Louise talk. The matriarch's voice was low as she said, "I pulled into the driveway and knew that something was off. It sounds crazy but I know that I left the red flag up on the mailbox before I left. I took the small bag of groceries in the house and then I heard a noise. I heard someone upstairs. I…I went to the hall closet and got my husband's shotgun. When I got to my bedroom—the person in my house was my baby—it was George." She stopped speaking as she broke down in sobs. Callie moved closer and grabbed her hand, giving her the strength to continue talking. "He wasn't himself. I finally saw with my own eyes what everybody was saying. I held the gun on him, but I couldn't shoot. I couldn't kill my baby and he knew it. He looked at me and yanked the gun out of my hands. I got scared and started to back away. I was at the top of the stairs and he grabbed my arm. I begged him to let me go and he asked me if I was gonna call the police. I told him that I had to because they were looking for him. He started to get angry and I asked him why he hurt you. He got really angry…and the next thing I remember is waking up on a stretcher with paramedics asking me if I could hear them. Callie I swear that I didn't know and I'm so sorry."

The detective spoke up and asked, "Mrs. O'Malley, what would he be looking for at your home?" "I don't know. He hasn't lived there since he graduated from medical school and started working here." "Is there a possibility that he hid something there all those years ago?" Louise shook her head, "I don't know." The detective took a closer step to her, "Ma'am I need to ask you some hard questions. Does your son have any history of mental illness? Does he have anger problems? Has he ever been fixated on someone? When did his drug abuse start?"

Louise was overwhelmed, "There is no history of mental illness. I've just recently learned the hard way that my sweet boy has a problem with his anger. Fixated? No, nothing like that. Drug abuse? What drug abuse? George—"

"started using dilaudid after we lost out daughter to a miscarriage. Once I caught him, he switched to snorting Creatine so that he could get high but maintain steady hands in surgery. I thought he was sober" said Callie while wiping her tears. Addison slipped into the room to grab Avril and give the detective an envelope that was left at Callie's home. The contents nearly made Callie collapse.

She was looking at pictures of everyone that she's dated since moving to Seattle with a target drawn on their faces. When Callie thought that it couldn't get any worse, Detective Fisher said, "I asked Miss Montgomery to bring after our forensics tested it. It obviously has your husband's prints on it. The markings made on the faces were positive for human blood. Ms. Torres, the blood used to make these markings was yours."


End file.
